Eagerly, three dogs hop into the truck while the others watch wistfully. There are geese in the pond on the 15th hole at the Ridge Club in Sandwich and it's up to Tova, Vedda and Lola to send them away.

Ridding local properties of the pesky critters is all in a day's work for these pups. They are the heart, soul, tails and ears of the Hamm's four-year-old business, Fowl Play Goose Patrol.

To think it all started with sheep. In 1990 while the Hamms were living in Norwell they decided they wanted a dog. While on a business trip to New York, Greg caught a segment of Saturday Night Live featuring Mike the Dog of the movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills.

He was instantly smitten with the Border Collie's talents, energy and loveable nature. Greg suggested the breed to Cokie, who learned all she could about them.

It wasn't long before they brought home a spry little pooch named Maggie. "It's all because of her," said Cokie.

Although Maggie wasn't cut out to herd sheep, as she would snap at the flock, the Hamms found success with another dog, Gaelen, now a grandfather.

About four years ago Cokie learned about the use of Border Collies to rid geese from golf courses, school playgrounds and people's homes. She was intrigued. "When we'd take the dogs to the beach, they would run for miles out of sight after the gulls," said Cokie.

Together Cokie and Greg parlayed their dogs' boundless energies and obsession for chasing birds into Fowl Play.

During goose season, usually early spring and fall when the seasons begin to change, calls will come in from various clients that geese are on the premises. Within minutes, Tova, Vedda, and Lola are driven to the site where they get down to the business of, well, being Border Collies. "It's in their blood," said Cokie.

As soon as the truck stops, the dogs are off in a blur of fur. While two dogs traverse the water's edges, one takes the plunge, swimming feverishly after the squawking flock. Not ten minutes later the geese are gone and the dogs trot happily back to the truck. "Geese have a visual concept of the dogs as a predator," explained Cokie.

Geese removal by Border Collie is a fast-growing, EPA-approved method for ridding property of the unwanted waterfowl. "It is safe and humane," said Cokie. "The dogs are trained not to ever touch the geese."

It is also cost-effective because it prevents the geese from destroying grass, as they will eat it to the roots.

The pooch patrol method is working so well that just the sight of Greg has sent geese flying. "The geese at one site, they see me and they're gone," he said.

To keep the geese away the Hamms bring the dogs on random visits at varying times, avoiding predictability on the part of the geese. Once the birds have left, the customer is placed on an on-call maintenance program. "This is the first year we've really expanded," said Greg. "People are curious."

Clients are also pleased. Tom Colombo of The Ridge Club in Sandwich is very impressed with the effectiveness of the dogs.

"They're great," he said. "Immediately we noticed results. We had a fair amount of geese that were becoming a nuisance and were unfazed by other tactics we tried."

Colombo notes that the use of three dogs, plus the kayak the Hamms bring with them, is the ideal force against the geese.

"The geese get used to one dog," he said. "With three, the dogs surround the pond. It's been great. We're definitely planning on bringing them back in the fall."

Meanwhile, back at the farm, the Hamms tend their organic garden, train other dogs to herd sheep and try to find some downtime in between it all. "Winter is when we socialize," Cokie said with a laugh.

"Greg is an amazing cook. We invite friends and he prepares a five-course dinner in February. It's something nice we do in the dead of winter."

Until then, it's all about the dogs and the geese that need chasing. "They just love to do it," said Cokie of her brood. "They are so jacked to work. This is their reward."

For more information about Fowl Play Goose Patrol, call 508-375-0300 or email
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